The Problem with Shining the Moon
by Lapulta J.R.R. Cahill
Summary: Teenage Cahills love to get themselves involved in messes, and, of course, on a stolen spaceship headed to the moon on a forbidden mission with clashing personalities to battle the Vespers is no different. Ian/Amy. Rewrite of the Original.
1. Chapter 1

**The Problem with Shining the Moon**

**-=-(*)-=-**

Three hours before, his systematic world had fit nicely into the windowpane; slightly smaller or larger if he moved forward or back, but there, steady and strong like always. Yes, there was his world just barely small enough to fit through a peephole the size of a basketball hoop. He had frowned a few seconds later. It fit better, and then after that it shrunk until it was a baseball through a basketball hoop. And now, three hours later, his systematic world was a marble that he could've plucked out of the sparking sky and stuck neatly in his pocket.

Dan blinked and shook his head a little to chase out the homesickness; it wasn't like they'd be gone for long. It was only that Uncle Fiske would be freaking out in the morning when they weren't in bed - like usual - and Nellie wouldn't bake her amazing pancakes - like usual - because she would be so worried for them. And Mr. McIntyre, of course. The poor old lawyer would probably be out of his head with concern later - unlike usual.

"... Yo, cuz! Amy's freaking out!"

Dan glanced over his shoulder at the prominent face of Jonah Wizard sticking out from a white spacesuit-a bit on the large side, but Sinead had said that wouldn't make a difference - with two crutches under either arm and grinned, sticking out a hand. Up, down, back bump, fish hand, side-slap, fist bump. "Why?"

Jonah shrugged, favoring his bad foot by making the shrug purely one-shouldered. "How'd I know? Anyway, she wants you. I think. Ian was looking for you, but the dude's a complete maniac so I stepped in and figured you'd be here-"

"This is the cargo hold," a British voice snapped. "And if you two are in there, I suggest you get out."

Dan stuck his tongue out at the silhouetted figure in the doorway. "... _car-gau hould..._"

Jonah covered his mouth to hide the snickers.

"I'm serious," Ian snarled. "_Out_. This is off limits. And if you're in there, Daniel, get out and start working with Natalie on cleaning the helmets."

"... _geot oout..._"

More snickers.

Ian scowled at the stairs leading down to the hold and the pitch-black floor where awful imitations of a probable Irish accent were taking place. "Fine." Stepping back, he slammed the door shut and locked it. That ought to keep them quiet for a while; at least till the girls started wondering where they were.

Spinning around on his heel - it was terribly hard to do that in a spacesuit on plastic floors - Ian started off down the hallway. There were handles sticking out at multiple opportunities for the times when zero-g was needed, but for now, Sinead had acknowledged the simplicity of gravity and had enacted it. Ian made a left, then a quick right down the still-white, narrower hallway at the front of the spaceship. At the end of the corridor was a sliding door; he opened it, shut it, and scanned the enormous paneled windows for anything other than the moon. Nothing. The moon, in fact, looked like nothing but dust and rock. Craters, maybe. No 'secret' seeable hideout. No neon signs: HELLO CAHILLS, WE ARE HERE ON THE MOON IN THE FOURTH CRATER ON THE LEFT, ASTROID AVE., VESPER COLONY.

"And so, _why_ are we doing this again?"

Sinead spun around in her swivel, commander-like chair, hair flicked over her shoulder in a long, auburn ponytail with an exasperated look on her face. "Be-_cause_, Ian Kabra, we're saving the human race; if you can think that far ahead."

Amy glanced at her from her chair to the right. "I think that's more a matter of heroism than thinking. A kid of three can wish to be a hero, but he can't think that far ahead."

"But you have to be able to think to activate any heroism. There's a reason most heroes aren't three-year-olds." Sinead turned away from Ian and tapped her fingers impatiently on rim of the enormous control panel. "Speaking of which, we reached Fiske."

"What'd he say?"

Amy stuck a bookmark in her book-Ian craned his neck a little to see what she was reading; The Complete Study of the Moon: 1200 B.C. to Present, Volume Two-and glanced at Sinead. "Well... he was... encouraging-"

"He was pissed, Amy," Sinead snapped. She whirled around in her Commander Chair to face Ian again with a dry look. "He was pissed."

"Why don't we summarize this mission with the fact that everybody who knows us and those that don't, are, or are going to be pissed at us. It's rather a fact of life. To be honest, I'm surprised Father hasn't sent up another shuttle to chase us."

Comandress rolled her eyes. "More like steal it back and leave us to die floating in the atmosphere. Anyway, granted with the fact nobody is happy we're up here and eighteen to fourteen year olds are attempting a blow-up-the-Vespers'-stronghold-on-the-moon mission, I think we've done well. Our trajectory is straight to the place Fiske mentioned they might be with calculations for the rotation of the moon; we have the buggy to explore, should we need to go farther. And honestly-" she examined her fingernails for no reason "-algebra is awesome."

Amy forced a smile down and she opened her mouth to speak as the door slid open. Hamilton Holt's massive frame filled the doorway, a tiny burrito clutched in his hand. He sauntered up to Ian and gave him a gentle pat on the back. "Dude, this snack bar is _AmAzing!_"

Ian crumpled like a starched shirt collar and stumbled past Sinead to land windshield-bug-like on the control panel. Turning his neck a bit, he straightened up and ironed out the wrinkles in his spacesuit with his palms.

"Sorry man, didn't mean to do it that hard."

"No hard feelings." Yeah, _riiight_. Ian scrounged around for whatever shreds of dignity he had left. "Anyway, Natalie should be taking care of the helmets, have you-"

He stopped at the sound of quickly clicking keys. Whirling around, both boys watched Sinead hunched over the panels, fingers moving so fast over a touch-screen they were a blur. "The plant part of the shuttle," she finally managed, straightening up and jostling the chair so it moved to the right-over to another panel where she continued clicking. Amy stood up and hurried over. "Our oxygen. You made it detach."

Ian looked out the window. Sure enough, there was an object floating off into space. He whirled around to face Hamilton, eyes flashing. "Well that's just bloody _great_! If it wasn't for your pea-sized hunk of ham that you call a brain, and those porker-bulk, grape-colored-"

"Who are you calling names?" Sinead snapped. She teetered perilously on the edge of her chair. "You were the one that slammed into the panel!"

"He _shoved _me!"

"I didn't even touch you!"

"Touch me?! You _hit_ me!"

"Hitting is a verb, touching is a verb! They're different! Even _Ted_ could see that! Specify!"

Amy pursed her lips, somewhat in the verge of sitting down, but not wanting to. She glanced at the three of them. "Look guys-"

"Specify what?! Everyone saw it!"

"Saw me congratulate him on his amazing burritos?"

"Pointer, this isn't 'mine'. We stole it. Private property of Lucians."

Amy clenched her teeth. "Ian!"

"Woohoo," Hamilton waved his arms above his head. "_Private property_. So they have to pay for whatever we break anyway."

"We are in _space_, dumbbells! The term 'private property' means _everything_ up here. And do you think there are random space stations where you can buy a random conservatory that will randomly fit with a _customized_ spacecraft of which there are only five in the world?! Even if you X-ed out the fact that they don't sell conservatories in space, the odds of the matter would still be about 500 million to one!"

Amy decided to stand. "_Sinead!_"

"So we're screwed?"

"Basically."

"And it's all your fault! If you hadn't waltzed-"

"I didn't 'waltz'! I don't know how to waltz, and I don't care to learn!"

"There! There! Right there! That proves exactly what I'm talking about! A hunk of baloney inside a meat locker!"

"IFYOUWANTTOTALKABOUTTHAT, YOU CAN TALK ABOUT IT OUTSIDE WITH A BROKEN HELMET!"

"_EVERYBODY, LISTEN TO ME!_" Amy screamed. It echoed around the room for five seconds, giving everyone a long enough time to turn and look at her before they throttled each other. There was a moment before she realized she had her hands up in the universal 'calm down' motion. "Please," she said. "It's better quiet in here. And anyway, isn't there a stored amount of oxygen? There ought to be; you don't go into space without one."

Ian pursed his lips as if unsure whether to continue lathering Hamilton with the worst insults he could think of or answer her question. "Seven days, I think."

"Three," Sinead corrected. She sat down primly in her commandress chair as if the fight had never happened and she was once again ruler of her universe. Spinning around, the computer keys started clicking and a whirring from deep in the shuttle resounded in the room.

Ian raised an eyebrow. "There should be seven."

"Seven for three," she glanced at Amy who'd sat down and taken out her book although she was looking over the pages. "Three for seven; probably less. And that's not even including filling up our space suit supplies; that'll probably be half a day right there. I told you there were too many people on board." Bending over the control panel, she started typing again, fingers blurred.

Hamilton finished his burrito and crossed his arms. "We could shoot Dan and Natalie off in the escape-bot."

Everyone stared at him. And riiiight. That wasn't going to work.

Sinead looked up. "Here's an option. We don't have to do this. There's enough air if we use the gravitational pull of the moon to rocket us back to earth; Apollo 13-style. You know, Amy."

"They had the same problem," she pointed out with a wry smile.

"That's no laughing matter."

All three of them looked at her. And Amy felt herself clamming up like she always did. She had no knowledge of space aside from what she'd been reading; no knowledge of the moon, its orbits, the earth's pattern. They had nothing to go on except a few vague hints of Vesper activity from Tomas workers at NASA and still they were here; 150,000 miles from home without any grownups or base to speak of to help. Even Apollo 13 had had mission control. Oh right. They had her. And Amy Cahill was supposed to be even _better_ than mission control.

Amy glanced out the windows. They were big and curved, like the windshield of a giant, rocket-propelled car without any wheels to speak of. The moon had gotten larger. Or - no - they were getting closer. Millions of tiny stars dotted the heavens around the pale grey sphere, and in comparison, the shuttle felt very _very_ small.

"Ian," Amy finally managed. "Why don't you grab Natalie? Hamilton, find Dan and Jonah, wherever they are. Sinead and I will wait for you in the counsil room; brief them while you're walking, will you? We don't have a minute to waste-literally."

The two boys glanced at each other, shrugged slightly and the door slid shut after them.

**-=-(*)-=-**

"I call all the blue ones!" Hamilton's voice boomed around the small council room, which contained a set number of seven plastic chairs and one very flimsy, very plastic table with a neat jar of jellybeans poised as centerpiece on top.

Dan squeezed in behind-literally-with a little popping noise as he weaseled free of standing-Hamilton and the door. "I call licorice."

For a second, Amy glimpsed Jonah's face peek around Hamilton's bulk as if going to do the same thing Dan did, then Hamilton stepped forward and glanced behind him. Stepping through the doorway, Jonah glanced rather appreciatively at his crutches before pulling up a chair to the right of Sinead.

"... but I hate cherry, so I won't eat it. And every flavor other than strawberry is disgusting, except watermelon if it's red. So if the watermelon's red, I'll have the watermelon and strawberry ones. Oh. But the strawberry can't be pink. Pink turns your tongue a nasty color." Dan plopped down in the chair next to Jonah and yawned the largest fake yawn ever as Natalie walked in. Sniffing politely, she sat down across from him with a prim air and Dan slouched lower in his seat, effectively radiating his boredom.

Amy shook her head and watched as Ian sat next to his sister, leaving an empty space for Hamilton to her left. "Are you sitting down?"

He shrugged, leaning back against the doorframe. "Not unless you mind me here."

"That's fine. Anything-" Amy glanced at Dan's jelly bean-reaching hand. "_No, Dan_. Anything anyone would like to say before this starts?"

Exchanged glances around the table. Consecutive shaking heads.

"Good. In that case, I suppose everyone was filled in on the activities of the hour; right now it isn't life-threatening, or it may not seem that way, but-"

"Ooh! Ooh! Pick me! Pick me!" Dan waved his hand wildly in the air, half standing, half lying on the table in his excitement. "Pleeeeeease- pleasepleasepleaseplease-"

"Daniel takes the floor," Sinead snapped quickly before Amy could tell him to shut up.

"It's Dan, and yeahthanks 'cause I was going to anyway if nobody called on me; so this is basically what's going on-" he suddenly flopped onto the table clutching his throat. "H-h-hhhheeelp meee, I can'tIcan'tbreeeathe-" And with a very dramatic last gasp, he slid off the table and onto the floor. 'Dead'.

Amy lifted a hand to massage her temples and counted to three under her breath. "Other than- other than Dan's demonstration, do we understand?" Everyone nodded, except Natalie who nodded and looked under the table to see if Dan was alright. He was dead, except for a twitch in his left shoulder. "Are there any suggestions?"

For a minute, nobody answered. They fidgeted and looked uncomfortably at each other or the jellybeans in the center of the table. Sinead finally huffed out a breath and spoke. "We could still turn back."

"But," Amy frowned, realizing everyone was now looking at her. "We still have supplies; and this _is_ our mission. We all dedicated ourselves to this. It wouldn't be right to go back without something, do you think?"

The question hung in the air and they all mulled it over, even Dan, who was climbing back into his chair with a serious expression on his face for once.

"If every option has been exhausted, it might be too late," Sinead finally snapped. She turned to look at all the others, eyes flashing into each of their faces to get her point across. "It takes four days to get to the moon and back. We only have enough air for three. If we go back, we need to do it now. We have enough air to round the moon and double back on our steps."

It was a challenge, and it was heavier than the question. Everyone looked at Amy again. And then Dan snorted softly, breaking the tension. "They aren't steps, it's called a flight plan."

"There's Fiske," Hamilton suggested, making everyone look at him. "We can just ask and get more."

"We're a gazillion miles away from earth," Ian snapped. "We can't refill our supply from here unless an orbiting satellite would do it for us. I checked though when we were coming from the closets. There are only four, and they're too far away. Besides, we're not authorized by the government. They won't refill an unauthorized spacecraft. Not even with Lucian influence." He shot a glare at Hamilton as if it was personally his fault for the government's incompetence.

Amy sighed and sat down. "Good point. Open floor." Only nobody stood up; apparently they were out of ideas as well.

And Dan stood.

"Why don't we ask the Vespers?"

Everyone stared at him and they spoke in one voice: "Do _what?!_"

"Ask the Vespers; we're close enough, right? I mean, we've got to be close enough."

Sinead pursed her lips and everyone fell silent for her jurisdiction. "It's close enough-" she finally said. "-more than close enough, actually. But it's too risky."

"But that's it!" Amy slammed an old book on the table and it gave a huge puff of dust. Sinead sneezed and everyone else leaned away. "That's what we have to do! We have to ask the Vespers!"

There were more stares.

"We can't-" Jonah frowned and looked at the table. "We can't do that. Unless someone here wants to commit suicide. I was thinking more a- a gangsta mission, ya know?"

"But can't you _see_?" Amy glanced around at the blank faces around her and decided to change tactics. She flipped open the book with another puff of dust but waved it impatiently away and searched through the fraying pages for a certain section, or page. She stopped after a moment and looked up, eyes alight. "Alright, so the Vesper founder, was Gideon Cahill's _sister_."

"He's got my undying sympathy," Dan muttered. Hamilton heard him and snickered. They met each other's gaze and grinned.

Amy ignored them. "Her name was Valerie-"

"She sent Valentines, ate vegetables, and had a very variable temper." Hamilton snickered again.

Amy glared at them. "I've got a plan for us to get out... _alive_. Would you like to hear it?"

"Oh yes, please." Dan nodded eagerly at her and flipped an imaginary switch in the air. "Lecture alert-_on_."

She blinked once - twice and her eyes narrowed into malicious little slits. Dan gulped and sank down into his chair with an apologetic look on his face. Amy lost the angry expression and reverted back to her lecturees. "See, her name was Valerie and she was very pious. That's probably where the Vesper part of it comes in. But when Gideon started his work and married, Valerie grew jealous."

"So?" Dan snorted and leaned forward, thrusting his elbows on the table. "All Cahills get jealous at one point or another; it was 500 years ago. That's the difference."

"Five hundred years ago _is_ all the difference, Dan! She and her children tried to get Gideon's serum again and again, but they failed; so the went on to create the Vespers line."

He yawned. "Nice story, but parallel to the very important fact that it's COMPLETELY _UNIMPORTANT_ TO MY IDEA. And anyway, I was thinking more along the creep-in, steal-air, avoid-Vespers, go-home scenario... What made you go into this lecture? It's boring."

"Because it is your idea, nit-wit!" Amy snapped. "Fiske wants us all to work together, right?!" There were condescending shrugs from around the table. "I'm not saying that the Vespers are close family, but they are family; just as much as we are right now. Her name was Valerie Cahill before she married. Besides, doesn't that give them a reason to help us?"

The shrugs were replaced by wide-eyed stares.

"You're seriously not going to try that, Amy," Sinead breathed. "It's- it's impossible. They _hate_ us." The word came out in a broken whisper but it echoed around the silent room, bouncing off the walls until it was lodged firmly in their minds. The girl - she really wasn't a young woman, not now - swallowed, a light sheen of sweat illuminated on her forehead. "We don't even know where they are; the heat test never came out positive."

Amy waited. When Grace was going to say something important, she always waited. It was supposedly an old trick of leadership, and the old woman had used it to its full purpose. Amy clenched her hand to stop it from wandering up to touch the jade medallion; it wasn't supposed to be there as it posed a safety risk under the spacesuit. "Fiske told us they're there, and he wouldn't let us down."

The whisper bounced around the walls, holding just as much power as Sinead's plea; perhaps more so. "It has a risk, but doesn't everything have a risk?" Amy leaned forward, palms flat on the table and she looked at everyone. "Isn't a little risk better than tucking our tails between our legs and running home to be cowards because we thought we could, and we didn't even _try_?"

More silence.

Dan slumped lower in his chair and pursed his lips. Amy caught his eye. _Well?_

_Is responsibility that stupid feeling you get when you're saying I should put down my ninja swords? 'Cause that lecture just made me feel responsible, and it's really stupid._

Amy fingered the book and decided it was a bit on the large side to bash Dan's head in; even if it needed serious bashing. "Ian, what do you think?"

As if on cue, Ian's eyes flickered over the people in the room, from Hamilton to Amy and when that was done, he let out a quiet breath. He stood and pushed back his chair. "I say we go. It is an option, and they are family - if they recognize the word. And if we can kill two birds with one stone - two pints for the price of one - however you Americans say it, it's easier, isn't it?"

"I'm in." Everyone glanced at Hamilton leaning leisurely against the wall. He shrugged. "Duh. It's kinda a no-brainer. Don't go all political, will you?"

Sinead rolled her eyes and didn't stand. "I think you've all gone and taken hallucinogens but Ned would do it, and for once, Hammer's got a point."

Jonah stood up, wincing a bit. Amy caught his gaze and guessed the pain medication was wearing off by his unusual silence throughout the meeting. Perhaps it had something to do with the weightlessness too; it wasn't often a broken-legged astronaut went into space. "I'm... not in top-dawg shape right now," Jonah laughed a little. "But cool isn't how you look, it's how you act, right, Homie?"

Dan held out his hand and they started the complicated up, down, back bump, fish hand, side-slap, fist bump maneuvers of the best-buddy hand shake. "Yeah- I'm in. I just want to know how we're going to make friends with him, because, I don't know; they're gonna be all: 'OMG MUST KILL' And we're all the Martians coming in peace-ish. Are we gonna make them peanut-banana sandwiches? Or- wait, I know! Amy can put them to sleep with boring facts about Russia! _Perfect strategy_!"

Amy snapped the enormous book shut, making Sinead hurriedly turn her face aside. "_Dan!_"

"Yeah... well, it was only a suggestion."

There was a long second of eye-rolling and muffled snorts until the attention turned to Natalie, the undecided one. She leaned forward in the chair, gripped the armrests tightly and looked around the room as if she couldn't possibly be left to decide. For half a second she glanced at her standing brother who was watching her and debated for another half second if she was to sit or stand; if she sat, she'd have to say something, and so she stood. She looked quite pretty and out of place with her silky hair stark on the white suit; contradictory to herself, as if she wanted to stand but was too nervous. Only Kabras didn't get nervous.

Everyone waited and she realized with a quick tremor she _was_ supposed to say something. "I'll- I'll do it."

Amy closed her eyes and let out a quick breath to keep down a rising smile. Straightening up, she glanced around the room again in an attempt to look as professional as possible. "Thank you. The meeting's ov-"

"ALLL MIIINEE!" Dan screamed. There was a blur that swept over the table, grabbed the centerpiece of jellybeans and suddenly there was a plastic bag flying through the air Hamilton caught and then Hamilton was gone, Dan with him and Jonah was hopping out of the room as fast as his crutches were carrying him.

Natalie scowled and slammed her fist on the table. "Dang it, I wanted _one_!"

**-=-(*)-=-**

**Yes, I have read Vespers Rising; I know the whole Damien/Gideon falling-out touchy subject, but for one, this story would/will be much more complicated without the storyline I had planned, and I really don't feel like reconstructing the story as well as rewriting it. :P Call me lazy, but hey; at least the writing has improved a tiny bit. Eh? Eh?**

**For anyone reading this story for the first time, this is a reconstruction of an earlier story I wrote. It might've been original, but it wasn't very good and so I am now rewriting it the best of my present ability. It takes place after the tenth book. If you like original stories, you might like this one; if you want interesting, touchy romance, you might like it, but if you're the Ian/Amy fangirl and want fangirl mushiness in every chapter and Ian/Amy to instantly love each other, this is not the story for you. :) I thought I might iron that wrinkle out now.**

**Anyway, now you see where 'I'm so excited I'm going to do this really fast and all you guys will love me 'cause it's going to be so much better' gets me. :P Here it is; a bazillion hours after the due date. I can blame it on the fact I've had writer's block, I'm exhausted and have been getting up reaaally early for the past few weeks, but those are excuses. The really ironic thing is that I wrote two thirds of it tonight while I was bored and- and I'll shut up now. :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**The Inconvenience of Moon Walking**

**-=-(*)-=-**

"Cuz, that is like- seriously _not cool_."

Better the sound set over-work than not work at all. Amy winced for her ears and pushed lightly off the toes of her over-sized boots, rotating around in the air so she was facing the opposite direction. A small corner of backpack showed from behind her brother's back. He'd insisted on bringing it, even though it didn't fit over his spacesuit. "Dan, what on earth-?"

Static; a large crinkle. "Nothing."

A larger space man walked behind Dan; or rather, leaped, Amy corrected herself, in slow motion to stop behind Dan. It was eerie how they could hear nothing but everyone's careful breathing; Dan didn't even turn. Ian's voice snarled through static on the intercom while the space man took away the backpack. "This, is _nothing_, Daniel?"

Moon rocks soundlessly scattered into the dust where they belonged. "_Dan!_"

"But they're for my collection!" Spacesuit-Dan turned around to grab back his backpack from Spacesuit-Ian. Static, crinkle. "Maybe scientists will study them and prove that Martians _do_ exist! Besides, they don't belong to anybody. I can't _steal_ them."

"Dude," Amy glanced to her right to see Spacesuit-Hamilton coming towards them, jumping rather than walking. Each step sent him sprawling ten feet in the air. "Martians live on Mars. I challenge you to a game of hopscotch."

"You're on!"

And just like that, the incident was forgotten. Dan and Hamilton jumped away, tuning the intercom to different frequencies so their inevitable chatter wouldn't be picked up. _Boys._ Amy dismissed the others and reached around to tighten her oxygen tube. It was good and tight, just like she'd checked a minute ago, but here on the moon it really wouldn't do to have a precious oxygen pack float off into space; especially as there were only a few hours worth left on the shuttle.

Static, crinkle. "You're nervous, love."

Amy flinched, hating the flash of pleasure the silky, British voice gave her. For a moment, she wondered if it was possible to squash such unwanted emotions like unwanted bugs; under her shoe. "I'm not _nervous_. And don't call me 'love'." That sounded awful, didn't it? Honestly, how ungrateful could she be? The only reason they were here was because of Ian and he knew the passwords and how to hijack a shuttle- "... please."

"Why not? Haven't you been to England?"

"I don't _want_ to go to England-" Okay, they'd already gone there but it was part of the clue hunt; so did it really count? Hamilton suddenly glanced over at them, adding to the pressure. Static, crinkle. "A-And- And because I said so, and I don't want you to... bother yourself."

"'s not a bother." Through the helmet glass, Ian's handsome, though laughingly discolored face looked like he wanted to say more, but Spacesuit-Natalie was walking toward them with Spacesuit-Sinead. They looked like twins with their arms crossed the same way. The only difference was a head's width from Sinead's helmet to Natalie's. Amy let out a silent breath of relief for the two saviors and turned towards them. She didn't need that kind of stress in her life.

Crinkle, static. More static. Sinead slapped the side of her helmet and her voice broke through. "-Jonah to get- -here."

"Can't hear you," Ian said.

Natalie wandered away from her companion as Sinead banged on her helmet. "... can you hear...me now? God, this... thing is awful." More static, and then it cleared up. "Well finally," she snapped. Spacesuit-Sinead continued walking. "Like I was saying, have Jonah get Dan and Hamilton before they jump themselves into moon orbit and we need to figure out a plan. We have six hours of air in here and four in the shuttle. Ten hours doesn't amount to much." She glanced around. "Where the heck is Jonah anyway?"

Spacesuit-Ian crossed his arms. "Listening to you talk about him, obviously."

"Duh, I _know_ that-"

Amy pushed off and landed lightly between them. Static, crinkle. "L-look guys. The last thing we need is to start wasting air. Natalie, go grab 'los dweebos', will you? It sh-shouldn't be too hard since they're jumping up right now; they can't go anywhere floating. Sinead, come with me to find Jonah, and Ian; stand there, will you?"

There was a jumble of static mixed with the sound of someone snorting. Natalie headed off.

"Wait a sec, yo," Jonah's voice crashed onto the intercom. "Don't go searching. 'za blitz here."

Sinead pursed her lips. "Sorry to burst your bubble, aeronaut-with-crutches, but ''za blitz' is on earth. On the moon, you happen to be Jonah Wizard."

"Sinead-"

Jonah emerged from behind a rock cluster, crutches tucked safely under both arms. He made relatively good speed while swinging them, but he paused to wave off Amy's protest. "I was joking."

Static; Ian's laughter. "No 'yo'."

Jonah continued walking and didn't reply. Good move, Amy thought, he was smarter than the 'dawg' slang; probably smarter than Ian and Natalie combined too.

"-I _DID NOT_ SAY THAT!"

"Okay, dude, so you're all, like- stuffing them in your backpack. And _seriously_? I mean, you said they were for your collections, and then for the scientists; and who the heck are these scientists anyway? 'cause Sinead's got a bunch on her hands and-"

"I just said I wanted moon rocks, have you like-" static, crinkle. "-even watched the material from Apollo 18? It's like- _so gnarly_, dude!"

"Did you see the added special effects?" Hamilton took a running step and leaped into the air. "La-ame!" Dan joined him and a mock battle started in the air with twisting karate kicks and hooooiya-screams.

Natalie stalked in front of them, puffs of moon dust rising comically from her steps. She finally stopped in front of Amy. Static, crinkle. "I demand that their-"

"TAKE THAT, SUCKAAA!"

"HEY, OOOW!"

"-_I demand that their frequency be changed!_"

"DAN!" Amy screamed. "HAMILTON!"

The yells fell silent and the two boys fluttered back to earth, looking a bit sheepish.

"... _Enough_." There were a few seconds worth of breathing and static. "Listen to me. You're wasting your air. We need to start looking for the hideout. We know it's in this vicinity and we have three hours to find it."

Sinead crossed her arms. "Probably two and a half for you two."

Amy ignored her and turned to face everyone. "Are th-there any suggestions?" _Blame the stuttering on the space-getup._ Everyone exchanged quiet looks, and shrugs. "Well... what about that pile of rocks over there? Ham?"

"Sure. 's a place to start, Ames. Sinead?"

"I think you fastened my air tube on backward."

Amy left them to their bickering because there were just some fights you didn't get involved in, and turned to Ian. He was staring at Hamilton with a look of intense dislike, cheeks a bit flushed, even for the helmet screen's discoloration. Amy shook her head quickly and just as suddenly the look was gone. Air pressure. Sinead had said it might play tricks on the mind. "What do you think, Ian?"

There was a shrug. "It can't hurt. I'll go first with Hamilton; the rest of you follow. Be safer."

Nobody disputed his comment although Hamilton shot him a nasty glare and stuck out his tongue while falling into step beside him. Amy stayed next to Sinead and Dan, who was struggling to fix an enormous moon rock into his backpack. She let him; he ought to have as much fun as possible before trouble arose like it inevitably would. Natalie walked to their right, keeping an eye on her brother, and Jonah enjoyed flying along on his crutches; it really _was_ easier than on earth.

**-=-(*)-=-**

The rocks lining the crater were enormous, man-sized boulders. Each one had the potential to be under scrutiny. Ian leaned against the closest and glanced back at the rest of the group a ways away. "Well? What now?"

Hamilton stood a few yards back, glancing up, down, and then digging the toe of his boot into the loose dust. A little cloud of it rose before settling back down and he watched it like the most interesting thing in the world. "What would be our chances of walking right into the Vesper stronghold, you think?"

Static, crackle. "Three eighths percent," Sinead commented over the intercom. Hamilton rolled his eyes and turned to look at the rock again. "Look at this. It's faux. Fake," he clarified, as if Ian didn't know the meaning of the word. "The molding stretches all the way out to here, and then they scattered dust over the rest so nobody would notice. Someone's hiding something."

"The _Vespers_ are hiding something," Ian snapped. "You think Neil Armstrong would've left something on the moon and covered it with rock dust? I don't even think there was faux rock back then."

Hamilton pursed his lips. Static, Crinkle. "He did. It's in the pole of the American flag, git. But what do you suggest for right here, since you're obviously so smart?

Silence from Ian, who shot him a nasty glare. Static went on from someone else: Sinead. "Try kicking it."

"Kicking it?" Ian snorted. "And what's that going to do? Hurt the rock?" His lip curled up. "Oh, I'm a rock, and I've been hurt very badly by a great big buffoon who thought kicking me would split me open-"

"Just _do it_, Hamilton!"

A low growl shot over the intercom, silencing Sinead's command as Spacesuit-Hamilton cracked his knuckles with a noiseless flourish. Pulling back his arm, he leaned forward with all the strength in his frame and the rock cracked open and _ate him._

Natalie screamed.

Ian pushed off the rock he'd been leaning on - partly because it might eat him, and partly because rocks didn't just _eat_ people - and made a respectful semi-circle around the man-eating rock. It looked just as it had before. Hamilton's footprints were right where he'd been standing. Static, crinkle. "I- I don't know what happened. It's just like before."

"Don't go any closer," Jonah pointed out. "We can't lose-"

"Wait... here's a line-" Ian inched forward and the rock split open again.

They were all paying close enough attention that time to see two pairs of black gloves connected to a black suit yank him inside. There was a scream, and then when the rock closed there was nothing but silence. Neither Hamilton, nor Ian had ever been.

Jonah kept his mouth shut, judging now wasn't the time to remind all of his unfortunately ignored safety precautions.

"Well, are you just going to _stand_ there, gaping like _idiots_?!" Sinead snapped, rather unnecessary because Natalie was already running. "Come on!"

Amy caught Jonah's arm to keep him from moving, creating a yelp. "I- I- It's n-not s-s-s-af-fe."

"Heck to that! They definitely aren't safe, are they?"

"N-N-Natalie! D-don't!"

Sinead took a step backwards, glancing over her shoulder at Natalie who hadn't hesitated a moment at Amy's call. "Lo-lo-look, Amy," she snapped. "Playtime's over, tot."

Amy clutched Jonah's arm tighter and he inched as far as possible from it. "S-Sinead-"

"You said this was our only hope. It's too late now. It really _is_. And besides. You're just going to pack up and leave them here? _Honestly_?"

"I- I- have t-to make-" Amy swallowed, glancing at Natalie who was almost at the rock and at Sinead who looked cross at being made to wait in the intersection of an important decision. She couldn't stutter. Now was not the time. She was past that; over it. No more insecurity. "-make _good_ decisions. I can't l-let everyone go."

Sinead snorted. Static, crinkle. "And who's staying behind?"

Natalie reached the rock and turned to look at them. There was a quiet sniffle over the intercom. Amy let out a slow breath so it wouldn't be picked up. Sinead was right, and she had a point like most of the time. Nobody could stay behind and nobody could leave. Do or die. "Natalie, wait there, and don't move."

Sinead's expression softened after a moment. Reaching forward, she jiggled Amy's arm with a quick grin. "You're going to yank off Jonah's hand, too."

"I'msosorry." Amy jerked away before realizing neither move was very leader-like. She was supposed to be the leader, wasn't she?

More static sounded over the line. "Okay, seriously, people. I mean, get over here if you're like- going to do something about this, or just get in the HT58 and go home 'cause Nat and I need, like- help to get in this thing. We could knock, but the Vespers are apparently too good for a doorbell, even."

"Daniel Cahill, _get away from there_!"

Dan snorted and poked at the rock, his helmet nearly touching it. "That got you moving. Anyway, so while you're fifty yards away, what do you plan to do when you get here? 'Cause Nat's worried."

Natalie hadn't spoken a word. Amy resisted the urge to bite down on her lower lip as she always did when under pressure; it wouldn't be good with the awkward jar from running in lower gravity. Dan hated her - he always acted like he did - but maybe it was a good thing if he had some concerns. Even ninja dweebs needed concerns. "I- I have no-" Amy stopped talking to gasp in some air. "-no idea. Just _get away from there_."

"Well, it's not like they know we're here." Dan poked the rock again, standing in the same place Hamilton had been picked up from. "We were a bazillion feet away."

"'Were' is the key word in that sentence!"

Sinead hissed out a quick breath. "Save your air. Every ounce is precious now. We'll talk in a minute."

She hadn't been the best runner in track and field, allowing Amy to drop back a little to stay side-by-side with Jonah. He was moving slower, but his crutches acted like un-bending vaulting poles that sent him six feet with every stride. He wasn't even breathing hard. It took a few seconds for Amy to realize they still weren't at the rock yet. It wasn't that far, but with everything in slow motion, a single movement took twice as long.

Did that mean the time of a second changed? Was a year any longer or any shorter? Sinead would know for sure. Amy made a mental note to ask her friend later and glanced up at the stars. They were bright, shining pinpoints of woven silk in an utterly black background of velvet, so much prettier without a few layers of atmosphere to disrupt the light. And there was the earth. Half of it was in shadow with beautiful earth-colors - white, brown, blue, green - meshed together in a kind of smudged, blurred marble. She looked down at her feet - they were three quarters of the way to the rock now - at the drab dust that covered the white shoes. It wasn't fancy. It wasn't _dirt_. It was just the sort of thing that was _there_ and would always be _there_ and would never go away, no matter how hard you might try. But it was its own little world. You had to give it that. A world with no life; of silence. Until the Vespers, of course.

How long had _they_ been here?

Sinead touched the rock and turned around like it was a race, waiting for them. It took a moment. Jonah didn't speak - probably because of his leg - and Amy caught her breath. Dan waited. A quiet sniffle broke the silence again but nobody mentioned it, thank God. "So we all agree we need to get to Ian and Hamilton," Sinead snapped. She looked around, just daring anyone to dispute her. "Dan, where's the crack?"

"Crack? Like, butt crack? Duh. In your butt. I thought everyone-"

"_Dan_," Sinead leaned very close, eyes snapping. It wasn't intimidating to anyone who knew her, but it meant business. "_The. Rock. Crack._"

"Oh... that crack-" Dan rolled his eyes like he hadn't known all along and pointed to the crack. "You guys really need to lighten up. Sure we're about to die and everything, but a spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down and all that jazz and-" because Sinead was going to _explode_ "-the crack is right there."

Amy pursed her lips as Sinead started digging through a spacesuit pocket. "What are you thinking?"

The girl's eyes sparkled. They looked like when she'd discovered some new undersea creature and got to name it an unpronounceable name. "Getting to Ian and Hamilton. If the Vespers won't let us in, we can go to them."

"_Are you crazy?!_"

"So look," Natalie, Jonah, and Dan leaned closer if Amy didn't. The vial was a thick, oily blue; something not unlike a power shake. "Alistair wanted to come, but he got sick; he gave me this in case we had to use it. Said it's a corrodible acid. I honestly thought it'd go in my storage cabinet when we got home, but now..." She shrugged. "I'm glad I brought it."

"It isn't plastic," Natalie muttered. There was another quiet sniff everyone heard, no matter how the smaller girl might've tried to hide it. "And the latch is air-tight."

Sinead shrugged the obstacle off. "All we need is the corner anyway..." Holding the vial outright in her hand, Sinead worked the cork plug back and forth until it came off with a silent pop that everybody felt, rather than heard. Amy held her breath as Sinead leaned forward and let the liquid trickle down the side of the latch. She pulled back after half a vial's use, corked the rest and slid it back into her spacesuit's pocket and a slow, stead count of twenty backwards started on the intercom. Amy's mouth twitched up at how all the breathing suddenly revolved around such a ridiculous count.

Four... breathe in. Three... breathe out. Two... breathe in. One... breathe out.

Sinead brushed her fingers against the place where the liquid had been poured and a light dust brushed to the ground. She dug her hand in and small pieces of material crumbled, revealing a rubber hatch. There was a long, sucking noise they all could hear, even from inside the suits, and a glorious, extrardinarily white room met their eyes. "Quick," Sinead hissed. "Don't just stand there like idiots." They piled inside and she shut the door, making sure it was as tight as possible. "Dan, can you... Hit the blue button, will you, please? The one on the right."

Dan's curiosity got the best of him; there hadn't even been video games set on the moon, more or less in underground rooms. He smacked the button.

When he pressed it, there was a low hissing sound behind them and they whirled around as a door opened. There were no alarms, no guard dogs; no white-suited and black-gloved men to jump out at them. They were inside.

And the five Cahills were standing in the Vesper stronghold.

**-=-(*)-=-**

For at least a minute, every rational instinct of self-preservation was gone. Amy stared at the hallway. It was amazing; blinding, really. Everything was so white you had to squint for your eyes to adjust. At the end were three hallways jutting off from the one main hallway. And down those hallways, as far as it was possible to see, were hallways jutting off from those. The only blemishes were the jet black spacesuits lined against the right wall in perfect unison. It was like a closet, only... longer.

"... take off your helmet," Sinead finally whispered. Whispered, like there were hacking ears on the very intercom of the spacesuit. "And don't talk then."

Amy unsnapped the latches and carefully pulled it off. There was a soft hissing sound and her ears popped. It was good to hear again. There was soft chattering down the aisles and a faint smell of - hamburgers? - drifted through the air. It was intoxicating. She wanted to stand there and let it sink in, but Dan was already struggling out of his spacesuit, of course, motioning for her to help him because his backpack was stuck on the sleeve and his helmet was going to drop any second. Sinead and Natalie eased out of theirs and Jonah leaned his crutches quietly against the wall. The only sound was the rustling of plastic cloth and eventually that stopped as the suits were folded up and tucked safely under the black suits where they couldn't be seen.

Amy motioned them together for a diplomatic meeting while the coast was clear, but before she could open her mouth to say anything, there was the slamming of a door down the hall.

"I don't _want_ to do it! I never said I _wouldn't_! Good God!" Hurried footsteps slapped their way closer to the entrance.

All five of them looked at each other and pressed against the wall and the black spacesuits - Dan, for once, tried ninja-stealth - hoping they wouldn't be seen.

**-=-(*)-=-**

**Thank you very much for all my reviews! I appreciate your attention and it's very touching that the returners liked the first one so much you came back for the rewrite. *huggles everyone* For the newbies, I do hope you like this and be grateful you didn't read the first one. XD**

**I know there are mistakes... I wrote most of this at an ungodly hour of the night... So... yeah.**

**School is starting up again for me in a few days and I'm going to be swamped. I'll undoubtably continue writing this, because, as is pitifully obvious, my writing comes first, and then friends, and then schoolwork because I am a lazy procrastinatior, ( XD Half reality, half joke...) but it may take a while. I'll try to be quick as I can to make up for my awfulness these past months. Just heads up though. :)**

**Have a great day, everyone! :D**

**(... as a shameful 'PS', I am a CC-hog, and gobble it up like chocolate... *whistles innocently* =P)**


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